F^@# Greenstuff!

I hate this stuff. I bought the tools straight from Games Workshop (which may have been my first mistake), I kept everything super wet, and it stuck to the tools anyway. Now it looks like massive, ragged scar tissue where my terradons' wings connect to their bodies. Can anyone give tips or at least point me to a Greenstuff Tutorial geared towards idiots? Am I using the wrong materials? Does modeling putty just hate me?

--DF2K

 

Yeah, don´t use the GW-tool. I´d argue that noone should buy any hobby-materials from GW, since there are cheaper and at the same time much better substitutes to be found elsewhere. It is not a bad tool per se, but the two tips it has are not that great to work with for most applications.

My favourite tools are these:


1: A skull that I recently sculpted, using only the following tools. The skull has a heigth of 5mm.
2: a pointy tip, with a flat back.
3: Much the same, but with a rounded, flat tip. I use these two the most, hands down.
4: Clay shaper cone. Its a rubber tip that is great to work with. Useful for soft lines.
5: clay shaper, tapered tip. Like teh above, but with a pointier tip.

IMO 2+3 are the most versatile and useful basic tools.

Your problem with the sticky green stuff is a common one. Keeping the tool moist is the simplest solution, but you could even use vaseline. Do not press the tool into the clay, but drag it lightly over it, to smoothen the surface.

Another tip: Mix the two phases and let the Green Stuff sit for about 5-10 Minutes. It should have lost most of it´s stickiness but should still be pliable enough to work with.

Or you go ahead and purchase ProCreate, another 2-phase epoxy clay, which is much alike Green Stuff, but does not stick nearly as much.

I hope this post was of some help.

Greetz, the Maniac

 

Maniac, do you have a name for those tools so I can look 'em up?

And thanks for all the help!

--DF2K

 

If you look for wax carving tools you should find a cheap set that has those tips.
I just entered "wax carving tool" into ebay, and the first result up had it:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/6PC-CANDLE-WA...Crafts_JewelleryMaking_GL&hash=item5d2b275944


Glad I could help!

Greetz, the Maniac

 

I got my hands on some WoC cheaply so I have been looking at one of their forums, http://z4.invisionfree.com/cotec/index.php

This is a guide to make dragon ogres, shows several steps including adding the green stuff.

http://z4.invisionfree.com/cotec/index.php?showtopic=6679

I can't seem to find it now, but somewhere posted here is a guide to making armor and just general step by step using green stuff. I'll edit this post if I can manage to find it.

Edit: http://z9.invisionfree.com/Madhouse_Workshop/index.php?showtopic=195&st=0&#last

Very cool guide to using green stuff to make armor (or anything really)

 

Some people like to lick their tools (hee hee) to stop the sticking, but the jury is still out on how toxic greenstuff actually is. Best way I have found to stop the sticking is forehead grease! Just rub your tools on your forehead, and your fingertips, and they should get nice and slippery but not create a thick sheen.

I think one point that is understated is you need to make sure everything is wet to stop sticking, but a big drop of water on something like a terradon wing is counter-productive. You will have a hard time getting the GS to stick to the model as well with all the water, use more force, then find your stuff sticking. I still find in just general smoothing exercises fingers work better than any tool, as long as you keep them moving so you don't leave fingerprints.

Also, I second all of wat workbenchmaniac said. I have the two metal tools, you can get them in most hardware or hobby stores as well, and I've been looking for a clayshaper for a while but there doesn't seem to be any in my city, haven't looked around online yet I wanted to hold one first before buying if I could.

 

i'm no pro at this stuff, but i don't use the gw tools either. two clay shapers like WorkbenchManiac, a dentists tool (they always have some they are about to throw away, just ask one if you happen to be there) and some random metal stuff that comes in handy sometimes (improvising). i cut up two pieces of sprue once to make some more flat tools, but they don't last long

Also, maybe you were using too much of the yellow part in your mix? the more yellow, the stickier it is (but also more flexible and softer).

The dentist tools. i have the one in the middle: